Southampton voters reject bid to create public works department

SOUTHAMPTON - Voters put aside a proposal to create a department of public works at a special Town Meeting Tuesday but agreed to borrow $2.2 million to renovate the former Larrabee school.

An article calling for the consolidation of the highway and water departments with the cemetery and parks commissions under the aegis of a single department of public works was passed over after town officials decided to look at a different organizational model.

Selectman Jess H. Dods said that after hearing comments during an informational session recently, it was decided instead to expand the authority of the highway superintendent.

"We were not going to go before the town and push for something we were not really behind," he said.

Because the informational session took place within the 14-day deadline for placing articles on the town warrant, the question remained on the agenda and had to be passed over, Dods explained.

Voters did take action on a request to borrow money to renovate the Larrabee school for use as town offices.

The former elementary school closed in 1991 but has been used since then by the Council on Aging and some other groups. Town meeting voted 105 to 16 to borrow $2.2 million to renovate the building. In June, voters approved a debt exclusion question for the project. As a debt exclusion, the borrowing for the renovation will not become a permanent part of the town's tax base.

Dods expects town offices to move from Town Hall on Main Street to the Larrabee school over the next two years while the renovation is under way. Built in the 1870s, Town Hall has been deteriorating for some time. The Police Department will remain in that building, however.

Dods said he was pleased that the Larrabee project gained the two-thirds vote needed for approval in a community that has become know in recent years for voting down expensive projects.

"We have made major efforts to communicate why we need to do this," he said.